Putin was talking about state-of-the-art air defense systems - expert

MOSCOW, September 27 (RIA Novosti) - President Vladimir Putin must have meant state-of-the-art air defense systems when he said that Russia would deploy new hypersonic missile systems, virtually invulnerable to enemy defenses, an air defense expert said Tuesday.

Speaking on live television and radio Tuesday, Putin said: "We are developing and will deploy new strategic high-precision systems that have no rivals across the globe. These hypersonic systems will be capable of changing the course and altitude. They will be practically invulnerable, including to air defense systems."

The air defense expert, speaking on condition of anonymity, said these were "weapons of the future" that specialists and researchers had been working on for a long time.

The expert added that the new system would combine the functions of air defense, missile defense and space defense.

The expert also quoted the president as saying that the Russian army was already provided with sea- and land-based missile complexes, Bulava and Topol-M.

He added that last year Russia overcame an important psychological barrier when "allocations for army re-equipment topped the $5-billion profits from arms exports."